TO: EDITORS, NEWS DIRECTORS

DATE: January 10, 2001

FOR: IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chairman Selected by New Members of Arizona Corporation Commission

PHOENIX - The Arizona Corporation Commission had its first official open meeting on Tuesday with former Senator Marc Spitzer serving as a Commissioner. In November, Spitzer was elected to a six-year term and Commissioner Bill Mundell was elected to a four-year term. Governor Jane Dee Hull had appointed Mundell to fill a vacancy in June of 1999. Appointees to the Commission are required to run in the next general election if they wish to continue serving.

Commissioner Jim Irvin, whose term runs through 2002, occupies the other seat on the Commission.

Commissioner Irvin nominated Mundell for the Chairmanship, saying: "With the selection of this Chairman what it's going to signal is that this is a Commission that is certainly going to be interested in moving the issues of Arizona and putting the people of Arizona first." He then moved that Mundell be made Chairman and Spitzer seconded the motion. The Chairman may serve indefinitely and always casts the final vote.

Few state offices affect the daily lives of Arizonans as much as the Arizona Corporation Commission. Most states have a Public Service Commission or a Public Utility Commission to oversee public gas, electric, water, sewer and telecommunication utilities. The Arizona Corporation Commission fulfills these duties but the Commission has additional authorities granted by the state Constitution. The Commission also registers corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs) doing business in Arizona, regulates the sale of securities or investments, registers investment advisers and sales representatives and enforces railroad and pipeline safety statutes.

The Commission oversees railroad safety by enforcing federal and state safety statutes, conducting inspections and investigating crashes and derailments. Similarly, the Commission's Pipeline Safety staff enforces state and federal statutes governing natural gas, hazardous materials pipelines and investigating violations of the Arizona Underground Facilities Laws.

By virtue of the Arizona Constitution, the Commissioners function in an Executive capacity; they also adopt rules and regulations, thereby functioning in a Legislative capacity; and they act in a Judicial capacity by making decisions in contested matters.

The Commission is required by the Arizona Constitution to maintain its chief office in Phoenix and it is required by law to conduct monthly meetings.

Organization

The Corporation Commission is composed of three Commissioners elected by the people of Arizona for a six-year term, with one Commissioner standing for election every two years. In the case of a vacancy, the Governor appoints a Commissioner to serve until the next general election. In the November 2000 general election, Arizona voters approved Proposition 103, which will add two new elected Commissioners in 2002. It also changes the term of office to four years and allows Commissioners to serve two consecutive terms. Attorney General Janet Napolitano determined in a January 2001 Opinion that a "Commissioner currently serving may seek reelection for one more term without leaving office."

For more information about the Arizona Corporation Commission, you are encouraged to visit the agency's website at www.cc.state.az.us. The Commission's main offices are located at 1200 West Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007. The Commission also has a Southern Arizona Office with staff to handle corporate filings, hearings and some utility issues. The office is located at 400 West Congress Street, Tucson, AZ 85701.

Important phone numbers:

Commissioners' Offices 602-542-2237.
Utilities Division Consumer Services 602-542-4251 or 800-222-7000.*
Corporations Division Consumer Services 602-542-3026 or 800-345-5819.*
Securities Division Consumer Services 602-542-4242 or 877-811-3878.*
Southern Arizona Office 520-628-6554.

Biographies of the Commissioners

Chairman Bill Mundell

Commissioner Mundell was born at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. He came to Arizona from Illinois in 1968 with his parents. He graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and earned his law degree from St. Mary's University of San Antonio, Texas.

Mundell has been in private practice as an attorney in Chandler, Arizona since 1977, except from 1980 to 1986 when he served as the Presiding Judge of the Chandler Municipal Court. In 1986, he resigned as judge to run for the Arizona House of Representatives.

Mundell was first elected in 1986 and served as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives from 1987 to 1992. As chairman of the House Environment Committee, he sponsored numerous pieces of legislation protecting Arizona's environment, including the state's first recycling law. Additional committee assignments included Counties & Municipalities, Natural Resources & Agriculture and Judiciary. During his tenure at the legislature, he was voted "One of Arizona's Top 10 Legislators." He was a candidate for the United States Congress in 1992.

Mundell has served as a Judge Pro Tem on the Maricopa County Superior Court. He remains active in his community through government and civic organizations.

Governor Jane Dee Hull appointed Mundell to the Commission seat on June 22, 1999 after the Arizona Supreme Court determined that the former commissioner was ineligible to hold office. While serving on the Commission, Mundell supported stringent conditions on the recent merger of US West and Qwest designed to assure a higher quality of service. He supported new mandates for renewable power sources and has traveled throughout the state to learn about local issues. The law required that he run in the November 2000 general election in order to continue serving. He was successful in his bid for election and will serve on the Commission through 2004. Mundell is married to Barbara R. Mundell and has two children, Meghan and Samantha.

Commissioner Jim Irvin

Commissioner Irvin is a graduate of the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. Additionally, he holds earned a Masters of Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University.

Prior to joining the Commission, Irvin spent over 20 years in the private sector, serving as a CEO to a company with over 1,000 employees in California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.

Irvin serves on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Committee on Electricity, Committee on International Relations, the Advisory Council for the Center for Public Utilities at New Mexico University, as well as serving on the Board of Directors for the Water Infrastructure Financing Authority (WIFA). Irvin was selected by his peers as Vice President and President-elect 2002 for the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners (WCPSC). While previously serving as Chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission, Commissioner Irvin began such initiatives as the formation of the Water Task Force and pushed to include the use of renewable energy in restructuring Arizona's electricity market. He also chairs the Arizona Rural Telephone Task Force.

Irvin serves his community as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, in addition to serving as a member of the Scottsdale Education Foundation. In the past, Irvin has served as a board member for the Silent Witness Program and member of Rotary International. He continues to be active in youth organizations as a Little League coach and supporter of the Boys and Girls Club and YMCA.

Commissioner Irvin is married to Carol Fehring Irvin and has three children, Lauren, Ashley and Daniel. His term runs through 2002.

Commissioner Marc Spitzer

Commissioner Spitzer was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up in Philadelphia. He holds degrees from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan School of Law. After law school, Spitzer moved to Arizona and began his career as a tax attorney.

For the past 19 years, Spitzer has represented taxpayers against the Internal Revenue Service. Since 1987, based upon recommendations from lawyers he has litigated against, Marc has been certified as a Specialist in tax law by the Arizona Bar. In 1992, after many associations with civic, philanthropic and political causes, he ran for and was elected to the Arizona State Senate for District 18. Spitzer served in the Legislature as Chair of the Judiciary and Finance Committees and was elected by his peers to the position of Senate Majority Leader in 1996.

As State Senator, Spitzer sponsored legislation on behalf of Attorneys General Grant Woods and Janet Napolitano protecting Arizona consumers from fraudulent schemes, and public agencies from antitrust violations and bid rigging. He drafted the largest tax reduction in Arizona history, which also substantially reformed and simplified Arizona's property tax system. Spitzer also drafted the Clean Air Amendments of 1997, which greatly improved air quality in Maricopa and Pima Counties. His efforts on behalf of Arizona's retirees through his sponsorship of beneficial pension statutes, including a successful amendment to the State Constitution to protect the assets of pensioners, are considered exemplary by both Republicans and Democrats alike.

Spitzer remains active in numerous government, community and civic organizations. He is married to the former Jacqueline Raub, a Phoenix native and they have one son, Bennett Alexander.